Many of us get fat as we age. We become less active, but we continue to eat as we did when we were active teenagers. We are no longer growing “up,”  so the food we eat makes us grow “out.” We also eat stuff that is not good for us, and the negative effects accumulate over the years.

However, all is not lost. We can help ourselves by remaining active. Choose an activity that you enjoy and do it regularly. Don’t think of getting exercise; think of having fun. We all need to play and have fun. The more time that we spend at play, the less time that we have to eat.

If you are already active, then do yourself a big favor and avoid becoming sedentary. Avoid fat habits: Watching television, taking the elevator at work, eating snack “foods,” sitting all day at the computer. These things do you little good.

Many people live a long time in great discomfort. I’d like to live a long life, but I want to feel good in old age. I’m convinced that maintaining physical fitness by avoiding fat habits is the way to minimize discomfort in old age.

I had a Tai Chi instructor who was also a ballet dancer. Her face was old and wrinkled, but her body was strong and supple. She seemed to have none of the physical discomforts that many older people have.

NPR recently ran a story on ballet dancer Frederic Franklin who is still dancing at the age of 95. When I heard him speak, he sounded not at all like an old person. He has been dancing since he was eight years old. He loves it and keeps doing it, and it keeps him young.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be young in my old age, and I want to die young.

At least 7 scientific studies have provided strong evidence that energy containing beverages (i.e., “liquid calories”) do not properly activate the satiety mechanisms in the body and brain and do not satisfy the appetite as well as food in solid form.

Epidemiological research also supports a positive association between calorie-containing beverage consumption and increased body weight or body mass index. New research now suggests that soda may not be the only culprit…

The primary source of liquid calories in the United States Diet is carbohydrate, namely soda. Now running a close second are specialty and dessert coffees. Did you know that a 16 ounce Frappucino can contain 500 calories or even more! That’s one-third of a typical female’s daily calorie intake while on a fat loss program.

Researchers compared solid and beverage forms of foods composed primarily of carbohydrate, fat or protein in order to document the independent effect of food form in foods with different dominant macronutrient sources.

Based on previous research, some experts have recommended targeting specific beverages as being “worse” than others. High fructose corn syrup and soda has been singled out the most and you’ve probably seen that yourself in the news.

There’s no question that soda has been on top of the “hit list” for some time now, by virtue of the amounts and frequency of consumption alone.

However, this recent study says that from a pure energy balance perspective, we should be cautious about ALL liquid calories, not just soda and not just carbohydrates!

Fruit juice for example, appears to be an obvious improvement over soda, so many people have swapped out their soda for fruit juice. However, when fruit juice is compared to an equal amount of calories from whole fruit, the whole fruit satisfies appetite better (largely due to the bulk and fiber content), and so you tend to eat fewer calories for the day.

Men are especially guilty of this when they drink alcohol – Men tend to drink AND eat, while women tend to drink INSTEAD OF eating.

This new research found that with all three macronutrients – protein, carbs or fat – daily calorie intake was significantly greater when the beverage form was consumed as compared to the solid.

Yes, it’s true! Even protein drinks did not satisfy the appetite the way that protein foods did!

While you would think that protein drinks are purely a good thing, because protein foods have been proven to reduce appetite and increase satiety, if you turn a solid protein food into a protein drink, it loses it’s appetite suppressive properties in the same way that happens when you turn fruit into fruit juice.

Why do liquid calories fail to elicit the same response as whole foods? reasons include:

• high calorie density
• lower satiety value
• more calories ingested in short period of time
• lower demand for oral processing
• shorter gastrointestinal transit times
• energy in beverages has greater bioaccessibility and bioavailability
• mechanisms may include cognitive, orosensory, digestive, metabolic, endocrine and neural influences (human appetite is a complex thing!!!)
• last but not least, nowhere in our history have our ancestors had access to large amounts of liquid calories. Alcohol may have been around as far back as several thousand years BC, but even that is a blip on the evolutionary calendar of humanity.

As a result, our genetic code has never developed the physiological mechanisms to properly register the caloric content in liquids the way it does when you eat, chew and swallow whole foods.

Bottom line: This study suggests that we shouldn’t just target one type of liquid calories such as soda. If you’re trying to beat body fat, it’s wise to limit all types of liquid calories and eat whole foods as much as possible.

Start by ditching the soda. Then ditch the high calorie dessert coffees. Then cut back on the alcohol. From there, be cautious even about milk, juice and protein drinks.

Drink water or tea instead, or limited amounts of black coffee – without all the high calorie extras.

If you do consume any beverages that contain calories, such as protein shakes, be sure to account for those calories meticulously and be sure you don’t drink them in addition to your usual food intake, but in place of an equal amount of food calories.

Remember, those protein shakes you might be drinking are called “meal replacements” not “free calories!”

For many years I have suggested focusing primarily on whole foods rather than liquids, even protein shakes. Unlike so many other fat reduction programs, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle does not require any kind of liquid meal replacement or protein drinks and our company does not exist to sell supplements; we are here to educate you and millions of others about the realities of body fat loss.

We now have even more scientific data that confirms what Burn The Fat has been teaching all along.

I hope you found this helpful. You can learn more about “Burn The Fat” at www.BurnTheFat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

Reference: Effects of food form on appetite and energy intake in lean and obese young adults. International Journal of Obesity. 2007 Nov (11):1688-95. Mourao DM, Bressan J, Campbell WW, Mattes RD. Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059, USA.

About the Author:

Here are fifteen rules to lose weight in a week.

1. Don’t eat sugar
2. Don’t eat white bread
3. Don’t eat white rice
4. Don’t drink sodas
5. Don’t drink alcohol
6. Don’t eat fast food
7. Do drink plenty of water
8. Do eat more often, but smaller meals.
9. Do eat fresh fruits
10. Do eat vegetables.
11. Do eat fish if you like it.
12. Do eat meat if you enjoy it.
13. Do eat poultry if you enjoy it.
14. Do eat slowly
15. Do walk an extra 30 minutes per day

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“I’ve been a member for just over a month now and I’ve lost over 20lbs!”
“My sister is also a vegetarian and she’s been having great success following their plan.”
“… it’s so easy to follow.”
“…i have lost a total of 12lbs in 25 days”
“…i have done three runs of this diet and I’m down 17 lbs total.”
“I lost 15 pounds in 21 days”

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